British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the representative and governing body of sport for the Higher Education (HE) sector. It is a not-for-profit organisation, representing 165 universities and colleges and delivers over 50 sporting competitions and several physical activity programmes to 2.4m UK students. The organisation has a £5m turnover and has c. £250,000 worth of sponsorships currently, with a mission to provide the best university sport experience in the world.
BUCS embarked on a significant modernisation programme in 2019 to improve the customer experience and use data to increase engagement, provide better services and, crucially, drive commercial revenue to facilitate future growth of services. It is the only organisation running national competitions for HE students in the UK and operates on a global level.
The organisation recently implemented a new competition platform, alongside a mobile app covering 6,000 teams and 120 events for 100,000 participants every year. This was backed up with a new website, underpinned by an integrated CRM and a significant increase in human resources in digital engagement.
BUCS has seen this investment pay off and is now seeking to bring in a new Trustee to guide the organisation, and provide challenge and support on the next stage of its journey. It is an exciting time to join BUCS as it continues to modernise and has significant growth plans over the coming years. The organisation plans to grow commercial revenues and increase broadcasting deals through the continued implementation of its digital programmes, the introduction of data collection, and raising brand recognition. BUCS will have a much wider reach in public as a result of the improvement and growth of its services.